Darim Online + JPSinteractive = Happy Fun Fun Jewish Educational Technology Time!

If the adage is true and you can measure a person by their friends, then JPS Interactive is a head above the rest due to friends like Lisa Colton and Darim Online. During the 1990s Lisa founded Darim Online and created a large chunk of the synagogue and Jewish non-profit websites in North America. Since then, Lisa and co. have created the premier boutique consulting firm for the professional Jewish world. What Dr. Ruth did for sex education, Lisa is doing for technology and education. She makes it all seem less threatening and in clear and jargon-free presentations Lisa unpacks the mysteries of RSS, how a Facebook Page differs from a Facebook Group, and demonstrates how the tools of social media are changing everything.

In addition to lecturing and disseminating best practices, Lisa and Darim Online are training Jewish educators on how to incorporate technological tools into their classrooms and curricula. This cohort of educators will be one of the core groups of user testers who will be reviewing and providing feedback on the Tagged Tanakh prototype. JPS Interactive is proud to have Darim Online as one of our pilot partners.

Last night, Lisa and I sat down at a local pub to enjoy deliciously tasty post-Pesach beer. When I asked her what brought her to the City of Brotherly Love she told me that the Philly Federation had invited her to speak to not one, but three groups of Federation affiliates. Little did Lisa know that JPS’s office is located within the Philly Federation building, and thus I happily broke the Monday doldrums by dropping in on one of her sessions.

As someone who is also on the lecturing circuit I really appreciated Lisa’s congenial speaking style and the thoughtful preparation of her presentation. Including the Facebook page of one of the organizations she knew would be attending the lecture inspired squeals of joy by the young professionals who had created said profile on Facebook. She shoots she scores!

Lisa provided tachlis information with links to animoto and to Avi Chai’s Educational Technology Blog, and provided inspirational evidence of the power of videos as a means of building support for your organization. The following video is yet another amazing example of the power of typography and sound. Kol HaKavod Lisa!